Data centre study calls for new reporting framework to manage water use

Harriet Dingle, Consultant - Water Efficiency at WRc, and Simon Powell, MOSL’s CIO, discuss a recent report, funded by Strategic Panel’s Market Improvement Fund, to understand water use in data centres which has recommended a series of actions to support this critical and emerging sector while safeguarding water resources. The report, delivered by the Water Research Centre (WRc), presents policy options such as introducing a reporting framework to include water use and water efficiency, registering data centres on a Critical National Infrastructure register and reducing barriers to using alternatives to drinking water for cooling, such as the use of treated sewage effluent. ✅ Key highlights include: 00:00 Intro 00:08 How people think about water use and long-term sustainability 02:23 Regulation and accountability 04:35 Mandatory reporting framework for water use 07:17 England aligning with the EU 08:57 Practical and regulatory challenges for reducing barriers to using treated sewage effluent for cooling 11:47 Concern for the water sectors future water demand 15:22 Where datacentres will be built 16:36 How water companies and developers can better collaborate to avoid strain on water resources 19:18 How much of an increase will there be on water usage 20:37 Peak water demand coinciding with hot weather 23:35 How to ensure datacentre growth doesn’t come at the expense of water security 25:40 Where to build water storage facilities for datacentres 27:15 Does their need to be a formal body to oversee all this 28:43 Does the oversight need to extend nationally 🔔 Subscribe to Water Magazine to stay informed about the UK and Ireland's municipal and industrial water, wastewater and stormwater sector. ✅ LinkedIn -   / watermagazine   ✅ X - https://x.com/watermagtweets ✅ Instagram -   / watermagazineuk   ✅ Facebook -   / watermagazineuk   ✅ TikTok -   / water.magazine   ✅ Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/watermagazin... ✅ Threads - https://www.threads.com/@watermagazineuk Water Magazine is a freely distributed premium monthly print and digital publication and website reporting on the UK and Ireland’s municipal and industrial water, wastewater and stormwater sector. #WaterIndustry #EnvironmentalPerformance #Ofwat #EnvironmentAgency #WaterQuality #WaterMagazine #NaturalResourcesWales #SEPA #DWI #EPA #Water #WastewaterIndustry #WaterIndustryNews #WastewaterIndustryNews #WaterNews #WaterVlogs #WaterSector #WastewaterSector #SplashCast #WaterRegulation #PR24 #AMP8 #EnvironmentalMonitoring #defra #WaterPollution #RiverPollution #RiverWaterQuality #Sewage #SewagePollution #CSOS #SewageDischarge #WaterQualityMonitoring #SewageTreatment #SludgeTreatment #WaterTreatment #WastewaterTreatment #WaterTreatmentIndustry #WastewaterTreatmentIndustry #WaterTreatmentEquipment #WastewaterTreatmentEquipment #WaterConservation #WaterSupply #WaterInnovation #DrinkingWater #PotableWater